


moonlight and mist caught in them

by tigriswolf



Series: comment_fic drabbles [113]
Category: Native American/First Nations Mythology, White Collar
Genre: Alternate Universe, Gen, Secret Identity
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-09
Updated: 2012-12-09
Packaged: 2017-11-20 16:28:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 244
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/587419
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tigriswolf/pseuds/tigriswolf
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Neal believes every lie he's telling as he tells it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	moonlight and mist caught in them

**Author's Note:**

> Title: moonlight and mist caught in them  
> Fandom: White Collar/Native American mythology  
> Disclaimer: not my characters; title from Elizabeth Bishop  
> Warnings: AUish  
> Pairings: none  
> Rating: PG  
> Wordcount: 245  
> Point of view: third  
> Prompt: White Collar, any, how to con a con

Neal believes every lie he's telling as he tells it. And since everything he says is a lie, everything he says is the truth. 

That's the secret, Peter. That's the trick. 

Do you see it now?

.

The first time Moz ever saw the kid who would be Neal, he watched him work a street-corner con like a pro. 

The kid was good. The kid was _real_ good. 

So Moz swooped in and adopted him.

.

Moz taught Neal the name of the game. Neal rewrote the playbook.

.

Peter has come the closest to being able to tell when Neal is lying. 

He doesn't see but a fourth of them, though, and those are the ones Neal _wants_ him to see. 

.

A coyote wanders up the sidewalk by June’s house. Neal’s anklet says he’s in bed, but he’s sitting on the stoop, smirking at the coyote. 

“Hey, Dad,” Neal says, and vanishes. The coyote yips at the raven that swoops above him, chasing him down the street. 

.

When Peter knocks on the door the next morning, Neal lets him in. 

Everything he says that day is a lie. 

Everything he says that day is the truth. 

For Neal, they’re the same thing. 

That’s the secret. That’s the trick. 

His father is the coyote and his mother is the wind, and you’ll only catch him if he wants to be caught, and you’ll only keep him if he wants to be kept. 

Do you see it now?


End file.
